How to open a .vmdk file in Oracle VirtualBox

Opening a VMDK file (Virtual Machine Disk, is a file format used for virtual appliances developed for VMware products) in Oracle VirtualBox is ridiculously simple! But when googled for this method I was surprised to find that there were no tutorials explaining this simple procedure. All of them wanted me to convert the .vmdk file to a .vdi file. To put it words you “You Just Need to Run it”.There is how it is….

In the VirtualBox Manager click the New button to create a new virtual machine.

Input the name of your virtual machine and select the OS you would like to have. I selected Linux and Debian as I will be running a Turnkey Linux VMDK

Set the amount of memory you would like to have for the VM.

Now you will be prompted to create a virtual hard disk. This is an important step in running your .vmdk file. Select the option ‘Use existing hard disk’ and click the “Choose a virtual hard disk file ….’ button.

In the file selection window that opens up browse and select the .vmdk file you wish to open.

Click Open.

Now the ‘Use existing hard disk’ option will have the .vmdk file you selected. Click Next.

Click ‘Create’ to finish the process.

Now your VirtualBox Manager will have the new virtual machine listed. Click ‘Start’ to run the VM.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Girish R is the founder of techathlon.com, he loves to write on technology, opensource & gadgets. At techathlon you can read his How-to, free and useful software related articles. He is on twitter too @girish_r